A weepy Margarita Villegas, a co-conspirator with Richard (Little Ricky) Izquierdo in embezzling bucks from SBCC Management - which oversaw apartment buildings for the elderly and disabled in Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo/Councilwoman daughter Maria del Carmen Arroyo's South Bronx feifdom - was sentenced last Friday to 10 months at Chez Fed and ordered to repay the 50Gs she stole.
Little Ricky, until now Granny Carmen's chief of staff and district leader in her 84th A.D., comes up for sentencing Friday for glomming 200Gs from the same operation, mostly to live the high life, as well as fly Auntie Maria and Granny Carmen to Puerto Rico, buy new flooring for Granny's district office and pay the summer interns who worked for both of them.
Ricky's lawyer cut a guilty plea deal with the U.S. attorney's office that will supposedly mean he'll only serve 10 months to a year.
But some folks are wondering if Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein might not decide to slap Ricky with up to 10 years - to maybe loosen his tongue about Granny and Auntie's dealings.
Meanwhile, Margarita is still in charge at the same job and still pulling in a paycheck. Hmmm.
Naomi challengers
Newbie Robert Giuffre and perennial challenger Irene Estrada Rukaj are out there petitioning to try to topple Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera now that District Leader Kenny Agosto has dropped out of the race.
While everyone's talkin' 'bout Naomi being MIA in her Morris Park district, her challengers still face an uphill battle, especially since she can call for help from dad, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, who can still call in some chits from the unions for support.
A lotta folks are disappointed that Kenny, despite a lack of money, didn't go for it. The question is whether he blew his shot for the job next time around.
So long and welcome
The retirement party for longtime Longwood/Hunts Point Community Board 2 District Manager John Robert and Specialist Andrea Eisner is tomorrow night at the Split Rock Golf Course. Best of luck!
Meanwhile, the board meets June 30 to vote on John's successor, and the final choice has been narrowed down to two "very strong" candidates, said a source, who cautioned (take it for what it's worth) that "there has been absolutely zero political influence on this one."
Skip to Mosholu
Meanwhile, Longwood resident Roberto Garcia, who recently stepped down as Board 2 chairman, has stepped up to replace Dart Westphal as head of the Mosholu Preservation Corp.
Dart recently retired, with Roberto moving over from his job as senior director of community relations at Montefiore Medical Center.
BTW, Roberto's Longwood brownstone apartment was recently featured in the real estate section of a West Side English language daily newspaper.
Andrew's rainbow
Bronx Dem Party Boss Carl Heastie was quoted in the Albany Times-Union on gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo's lack of minorities on his ticket or top campaign staff:
"I'm not bothering Andrew on whether he has some beautiful rainbow. He has more than made me feel comfortable that if he gets elected, his high-level staff and his commissioners will be very diverse."
Adolfo speaks
Ex-BP/White House urban affairs czar(?) Adolfo CarriĆ³n has been heard from - at the bottom of a press release from fed Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announcing $400 mil to housing authorities around the state, including a whopping $327 mil for the city.
AC, now HUD NY/NJ regional administrator, called housing authority funding "a better way to address their capitol needs over the long haul."
Let's see how soon AC, looking at his future political options, leverages the job to move up near the top of HUD's press releases.
Nothing personal ...
We got word too late for last week's column that Fordham's Community Board 7, apparently to keep its political skirt clean, asked district manager Fernando Tirado to go on leave while he joins the pack looking to take down state Sen. Pedro Espada in the Sept. 14 primary.
Meanwhile, Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. has designated his community boards' coordinator Tom Lucania to oversee the district manager's office there, running it "by remote" until Tirado returns.
In touch
It took a higher authority, but the Rev. Richard Gorman, chair of Community Board 12 in Williamsbridge/Wakefield, is finally ditching his pager.
Father Rich, whose day job is working as a lawyer at the archdiocese chancery in Manhattan, tells us Archbishop Timothy Dolan ordered him to get an office-issue cell phone.
This after his eminence thought he was dialing Gorman's cell phone instead of his pager - not pushing the pound key for the message to get through - and wondering if Gorman was ducking him.
Club dinner
The mighty Chippewa Dem Club in the East Bronx holds its annual dinner dance Thursday night at the Villa Barone, with City Councilman Jimmy Vacca and female District Leader Fran Mahony among the honorees.
Little readers
Helping to fill the dearth of bookstores in the borough, a new children's bookstore is opening soon at Suzanne Axelbank's Someplace Special Haircuts and Toys for Kids at 490 W. 238th St. in Riverdale.
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